I Ain't Sick
by 1monster2
Summary: Juliet gets sick one March day and doesn't tell her siblings. What happens next, and how do they find out? Two-parter requested by GraceLeah07 and biankies...prompts include "Juliet getting sick and not telling her brothers" and "a two-parter where you don't hurt any newsie". No actual whumpage...just good old newsie familyness! Good amount of fluffiness as well! :)
1. Avoid the Puddles

**A/N: Hello, all! So, this story is in response to a suggestion, as well as a challenge. GraceLeah07 pm'ed me with a couple suggestions for stories. Then, biankies challenged me to write a story where no newsie gets hurt (although they** _ **can**_ **get sick), because that seems to be my modus operandi. So, I squished both together, and decided to create this! This will (hopefully) be a two-parter, and will contain lots of brother/sister feels! I haven't really ever tried writing prompts so far, so I hope this goes well, and y'all like it! (And yes, I will be putting out a new chapter of WJC and TLC soon…I just have to finish them.** **)**

 **DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL I JUST HAVE A HARD TIME NOT WHUMPING THEM!**

 **Prompts:**

" **I think that you should write a one shot where Juliet gets injured or sick (maybe she slips on some ice during winter while selling papes, or she catches a cold and insists she is okay and keeps selling). Then, she gets confronted by her older brothers when they find out. (I just love the whole older brother/younger sister concept and I love how you express it compared to other authors on here)." (GraceLeah07)**

" **You write a story without hurting a Newsie? Don't make me laugh, I don't think it's possible. You have a serious problem, my friend. Although I will dare you to write one. And not just a one-shot either. I mean a story with at least two chapters where no one gets hurt." (biankies)**

 **Please enjoy "I Ain't Sick" Chapter 1!**

It was a blustery March day in Manhattan. The winds were flying up from all directions, and the rain was intermittently splattering down. This meant that the newsies were constantly ducking in and out of cover, silently cursing their predicament. However…the younger newsies were not yet of an age where splashing around in puddles wasn't fun. Jack had repeatedly told them not to, as the chilliness and wetness and just general nastiness of the day combined with the shock of puddle water could lead to them getting sick, and they needed every newsie out and selling. The three (Les, Snitch, and Juliet) would listen for all of about ten minutes…before forgetting completely and beginning to splash around again, earning death glares from Jack and Race, and exasperated sighs from Davey and Crutchie.

Finally, Juliet grew tired of splashing, and focused just on selling. She sold for at least ten minutes straight, with a small group of people passing by. Not too many people were out on the streets due to the weather, which always frustrated the newsies. If Manhattaners weren't outside, they shouldn't have to be, either! It was their job to be out, however, and so they stood out in the wind and rain, grumbling the entire time. After about ten minutes, Juliet sat down on a nearby window ledge, slowly stretching out her legs as she did so. She zoned out for a while, before noticing a shimmering gleam in the water. She looked down towards a nearby puddle to see a handful of coins resting on the sidewalk. Juliet didn't know whose they were, so she figured that it would be all right if she took them. She walked over towards the coins, but didn't watch where she was walking. She stepped right on a huge puddle of water…that also happened to be right on the curb of the sidewalk. She immediately slipped, and went down-hard.

" _Juliet!_ "

"I didn' mean ta, Jack-I slipped! I wasn' tryin' ta do nuthin' else!"

Her older brother rolled his eyes. She knew that he didn't believe her, but it was true-she had only slipped. The problem was, however, that she was now completely and utterly soaked, and they would most likely be out selling for at least two more hours. She groaned quietly, sneezing almost immediately afterwards. " _Ugh…I cain't be sick. Jack would kill me iffn' I was, an' so would da rest a da boys. Which means…I's not sick. No matter wat da boys think…I ain't sick. I_ _ **cain't**_ _be sick._ "

That night, when they got back home, Juliet was still freezing. She was also sneezing rather frequently, and coughing whenever she thought her older brothers couldn't hear her. Of course, she wasn't as good as hiding it as she wanted to be, and they heard it every single time. Earlier, Jack had thought that she was just a bit cold from the puddle she had "fallen" in, and that she would be back to normal by now.

Now?

Now he was actually worried.

Thankfully, Crutchie seemed to read his best friend's mind, and slowly sat down next to Juliet, gently nudging her shoulder as he did so. "'Ey…you all right, Juliet?" The younger girl immediately nodded, although her response was rather ruined by the fact that immediately afterwards, she shuddered a little, and let out a harsh cough. "Yeah, I's all right…jus' a bit tired. Nuthin' a bit a sleep won' help." She tried to get up and walk away, but Crutchie placed a hand on top of hers, preventing her from rising. "Juliet, we can hear ya coughin' from a mile away, an' ya haven' stopped shiverin' since we all got back 'ere. I know ya's not alright…why don' ya jus' tell us wat's goin' on?"

"I cain't…" Juliet sighed quietly, looking around the room-anywhere _but_ her older brother's eyes-with slightly glazed eyes. "I's alright, Crutchie. I's a bit cold, yeah, but who wouldn' be, wen dey slipped an' fell in a puddle?"

"Dat was three hours ago."

"So? I is all right, Crutch…" She cut off as another series of coughs racked her small frame. For at least a minute, Juliet sat there coughing, while Crutchie gently rubbed her shoulders. Once she finished, she groaned, holding her head in her hands. Her older brother nudged her again, but she shook her head, not responding. Crutchie looked over to his three older brothers, nodding as he met their questioning gazes.

Juliet was sick. Definitely sick.

And she was refusing to tell them.

Crap.

"'Ey, Juliet…ya need ta go git some rest, alright?" Crutchie said. "Ya's dead on ya feet, an' iffn' I didn' know better, I'd say ya is sick." Her head shot up at that remark, but she almost immediately put it back down in her hands, her head pounding at the slightest movement. All four of her older brothers had caught her reaction, and had almost identical expressions of worry and frustration on their faces. "Come on, Juliet-let's git'cha off ta sleep, alright?" Crutchie queried, standing up and holding a hand out to the younger girl, who shyly took it. Before they got too far away, Jack darted towards them. He laid a gentle hand on Juliet's shoulder, before tilting her face up to face him, inwardly wincing at the heat coming off of his younger sister. "Git some rest, alright?" he queried softly. "We don' wanna see ya git sick…we need someone ta keep Romeo from goin' nuts."

"I heard that!"

"Ah shush, you!" Race jokingly called back. Juliet finally nodded up at Jack, leaning into his touch a little. Jack smiled gently at her, before stepping back as Crutchie helped her off. As soon as they were out of earshot, Jack sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "So she's sick…an' she's definitely gonna say dat she's not…"

"And try to sell tomorrow. While she's sick. Why do people ever think that that's a good idea? She's just going to feel even worse!" Davey murmured frustratedly, pacing as if he was going to follow his siblings. Race just sighed concernedly, looking in the direction they had gone, before making eye contact with Jack, as did Davey.

"Wat're we gonna do tomorrow, Jack?" Jack took a few moments to reply, sorting through all the variables as he did so. "I think…I think we's gonna have ta let her sell for a bit. Ya know how stubborn Juliet is-iffn' she hears us sayin' ta not do sumthin', she's gonna do it jus' cause she can. She won' stay away from sellin' unless she realizes herself dat she's sick…which means we's gonna have ta let her wear herself out."

Great.

 _Just great_.

 **A/N 2: Well…I hope you all enjoyed this! The second chapter should be up within the next few days…it's only a two-shot, so it shouldn't take too long.** **Hopefully I'll be able to put in some time on WJC and TLC as well…** **I've been able to lounge around today basically since 2:30pm, so…** **Win! I'll probably have some time tomorrow…besides studying for a philosophy quiz. Ugh… I'm also sorry that this is so short…it's kind of nice to write a shorter story (this won't be as long as my other stories, since it's just a two-parter), but it's also weird to write a chapter that's not over 2,000 words.** **Haha. (GraceLeah07, I hope you don't mind that this is a two-parter instead of a one-shot…I wanted to accept biankies's challenge, and she wanted it more than one chapter, so…** **)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all soon!**

 **God bless,**

 **1monster2**


	2. You Are Sick

**A/N: Hello, all! So, this is the second chapter of my two-shot…I figured I'd get it out today, before I forget to update it and it takes a month for me to write the second chapter. ;) I'm sorry if some of the language in the previous chapter was a bit more formal and weird than I normally write…when I was writing it, I was listening to Pandora and reading a book for World Lit…so I injected a bit more "fancy" words. I think it worked for the chapter, though…I'm also sorry if this is another "pointless" author's note…I'm currently in Bible Study Methods class, and it's hard to think of anything to write while we're talking about word study.**

 **DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL I JUST CAN'T STOP HURTING THEM WHILE ON CAFFIENE HIGHS!**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Biankies: Thanks! Yeah, I agree…getting sick is not fun. I usually get two colds a year (around January and March), and I've already had my first cold (in November), so…ugh. I hope I don't get my second one soon… Thanks! Haha…it's actually kind of hard to consciously make sure that I don't hurt anyone…as you can understand, knowing me… No problem, and I hope you like this chapter!**

 **GraceLeah07: Yay-and thanks so much!** **I'm glad that you are enjoying it, and I hope that you like this chapter!**

 **Please enjoy "** _ **I Ain't Sick**_ **" Chapter Two!**

" _Great. Just great."_

The next few days, Juliet kept selling, refusing to stop, even as she got worse. Her oldest brothers were keeping a nervous eye on her, which she frequently noticed, but she couldn't bring herself to care, trying to avoid thinking about how sick she felt. The first couple days, it just felt like a normal cold. After three to four days, however, it started getting bad. She started to feel tired all of the time, coughed more and more frequently, had periodic bouts of nausea, and was always cold (although she also had a fever, even though she didn't know it-or wouldn't recognize-it). In spite of all of this, Juliet kept assuring everyone that she was fine, and that she felt up to selling papes. As the days went on, however, all of her brothers began to notice that she was under the weather. She was stubborn to the last, and still sold a good number of papers.

The last day (Day #5) was the day that everything went wrong.

For Juliet, anyways.

The first sign was waking up to massive amounts of chest pain. As she struggled to get up, she let out a large, harsh cough, which she was sure that everyone could hear. She avoided talking to her siblings as much as she could, trying to keep to herself. They all knew that she was sick, though, and Jack had asked them all to keep an eye on her, just in case something happened. There was a modest amount of people out on the streets that day, and the newsies were selling well. The day was rather cool and crisp, which didn't help Juliet any, as she was still freezing. As she went throughout the day, still selling, she began to feel worse and worse every minute. She had been trying to reassure her brothers that she wasn't sick, but now she felt so terrible that she didn't really care. The coup de gras occurred almost immediately once they were done selling. Davey looked over to check on his little sister (who was selling on the corner next to him), before quietly cursing under his breath as he heard and saw her dry-heaving in the bushes nearby. He hurried over towards her, placing a hand on her back when he arrived.

"Juliet…you are sick. You can't hide it anymore-you are most definitely sick." The younger girl tried to protest, but then stopped herself. "Yeah…" she rasped out, "I might be a bit sick…jus' a bit." Davey smiled grimly, before gently picking his sister up.

"Davey-wat're ya?"

"Relax, Juliet. If you were left to your own devices, you would have face-planted after five steps. Just take a deep breath and close your eyes." He breathed a bit easier when he saw her do as he asked, and he moved towards the Lodging House as fast as he could. Once he got inside, he headed straight for the Soaking Room. Jack, Race, and Crutchie were there waiting for him (since he had sent Romeo out to alert them), and they helped lower Juliet into the nearest bed. As they did, Juliet groaned a little, opening her eyes.

"'Ey dere, little sister…how ya feelin'?" Jack queried. Juliet just sighed, unable to shake her head due to the nausea. "I, uh…I might be a bit sick." Race laughed darkly, rolling his eyes.

"A _bit_ sick? Dat's da understatement of da month, iffn' I evar heard one!" Juliet could hear the sharp rebuke in his voice, and so she looked down at the floor. Jack sighed, sitting down next to her. "Juliet…why didn' ya tell us wen ya got sick?" he gently asked. It took a while, but his sister finally replied. "Cause ya would kill me iffn' I got sick, since we needs everybody sellin'. Plus, I thought it was jus' a cold at firs', an' dose go away real quick, so I didn' think it was dat bad."

"Ya still shoulda told us, dough." Jack murmured, rubbing her arm a little, and smiling softly as she leaned into the touch. "Ya's gotten a lot sicker since den, hasn' ya?" Juliet nodded, not able to deny it. She _did_ feel like crap.

"Jus' talk ta us next time. We was waitin' for ya ta tell us, since we could tell ya was sick, but ya never said nothin', so ya wouldn' have let us help." Crutchie muttered, catching Juliet's eye. "We cain't do nothin' iffn' ya don' say nothin', ya understand?" Juliet sighed, but nodded. Her brothers could tell that she was fading fast, and so Race simply ruffled her hair.

"All right, kid-jus' git some sleep, alright? It'll take a while for ya ta git better, so jus' rest up. We all's gonna be here for ya..so go ta sleep." Juliet nodded, and closed her eyes, falling asleep a few moments later.

Juliet rolled over, slowly opening her eyes. She was feeling a bit better, but still not very well. She let out a small groan as the felt a familiar tickle in her throat, before launching into a rather large coughing fit. Throughout the entire fit, she felt a warmth running up and down her arms and back. Once she calmed down enough, she heard someone speaking behind her. "You's all right, Juliet, jus' calm down. You's jus' a bit sick, but you's all right. Jus' relax." She tried her best to follow her older brother's instructions, and finally was able to breathe again. She let out a sigh of relief, leaning gently against her brother's chest. "Dere ya go. Ya feelin' any better?" Juliet let out a small groan, shaking her head and snuggling more into her brother's warmth. "Not dat much…still feel like all ya guys decided ta jump on top a me…an' my head feels like someone's tryin' ta split it open." She could feel his warm laugh rumble through him, and weakly swatted him. "Shut up, Romeo." she murmured. Romeo chuckled again, smiling down at his younger sister. "I'm sorry ya ain't feelin' well…I know it ain't fun. Ya's gonna git better, dough…dough it might take a while."

"Why? Normally we ain't sick for very long with a cold."

"It ain't a cold wat ya have…it w _as_ a cold. But since ya's so stubborn, an' kept sellin', it turned into pneumonia."

"Pneumona-wat?"

" _Pneumonia_. It's like a cold, but worse…an' ya's gonna be outta commission for a while. Almost two ta three weeks." Juliet groaned, trying to roll out of the bed. She never liked staying in bed for long periods of time, mainly because she had spent long times in bed after she had been injured. Her sickness left her incredibly weak, however, and the only thing Romeo had to do was lay a hand on her side to stop her from moving. "You ain't getting' outta here dat easily. You is gonna stay in bed till Jack an' da others says ya can sell again." Juliet sighed, softly poking him in the side. Romeo chuckled, gently rubbing her side. "Ya know ya wouldn' be dis sick iffn' ya had jus' told Jack dat ya was sick in da first place."

"I couldn' tell him. He didn' need any newsies gittin' sick, an' I could still sell."

"Ya shouldn' have been. Jack wouldn' mind it iffn' ya was sick. He doesn' mind wen we git sick, jus' so long as we tell him, not try ta hide it an' keep goin'." Juliet rolled her eyes, her blue-green eyes finally connecting with her older brother's dark brown eyes. He smiled at her, dropping a gentle kiss on her forehead as he did so. "Ya need ta go back ta sleep, Juliet. I know ya don' want ta, but ya ain't gonna git better iffn' ya don'. An' iffn' ya try not ta, we still have dat sleeping potion dat Dr. Menken gave us." Juliet chuckled lightly, curling up even more into his side as she rested her head on his broad and lanky chest. "Ya make a good pillow, Romeo." she murmured, already starting to fall asleep. She felt another soft laugh through his chest. "I seem to be a pillow a lot dese days." he good-naturedly griped. He could tell his sister was falling asleep quickly by her quiet hum in response, and her eyes drifting closed. "Go ta sleep, little sister." Romeo murmured, looking down at her fondly. "I ain't goin' nowhere."

Juliet barely heard him, but hummed in response. She drifted off to sleep a few seconds later, knowing that Romeo (and the rest of her brothers) would look after her, just as they always did.

She was safe.

 _ **A/N 2: Well…I am adequately happy with this chapter.**_ __ _ **It's not that it was a bad chapter, but…basically, I wrote the second half and then went back and wrote the first…and I had just spent about 5 hours finishing up the first chapter of my new Teen Wolf fanfiction…and doing some notes for school tomorrow…plus I just kinda ran out of steam. So if the "brother confrontation" scene is absolute crap, that's why.**_ __ _ **I hope this story lives up to both of your ideas, GraceLeah07 and biankies…and HA BIANKIES I DIDN'T HURT ANYBODY! (you have no idea how hard that was…like, I was typing earlier this morning and having to say in my head, "I can't hurt, I can't hurt, I can't hurt" over and over and over…I hope this turned out well, though! And there's a bit of Romeo/Juliet friendship fluff at the end, because…I can't NOT write Romeo/Juliet friendship fluff. It's just not possible.**_

 _ **Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all soon!**_

 _ **God bless,**_

 _ **1monster2**_

 _ **P.S: If you know anything about "Teen Wolf" (the TV show), please check out my new story, "The Beta from Forest Grove", and let me know what you think! I still haven't watched a full episode of the show yet, but…should happen soon!**_ __


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